*This chapter has been edited 5/28/2016 to correct grammar and unintentional similarities between other works.
Hello, theotherpianist back again. This chapter was originally to be apart of chapter four but I thought it had enough material to be considered its own. Onto reviews and questions asked. Thanks to those that PM'd me congrats for breaking 20,000 words.
Mandalore the freedom: I really haven't considered whether I'll explore the Mandalorian society and culture. Its still up for consideration.
ww1990ww: It would be interesting. I'll keep that in consideration. I think I'll explore natural tensions in between the two in future chapters.
gwb99: yup, it was pretty awesome. I had to make it somewhat damaged in the end. Otherwise it would have been pointless to write this part.
And to all asking for updates I have to do it on my own time. I like frequent updates but that doesn't guarantee anything.
Chapter Five:
UNSC Dauntless orbiting Rhen Var,
Tobali System, Outer Rim Territories, Andromeda Galaxy
November 2nd, 2559 5:30 hours
Padawan Ahsoka Tano
The Dauntless, while not as elegant as the ship crashed below was very spacious and roomy inside and possessed a certain utilitarian yet simple elegance of its own kind on the inside. She was also taken aback that this Spartan guy-whatever he was-looked human. She almost expected him to be somewhat alien underneath all that armor.
Anakin was conversing with Senator Amidala who had just arrived from out of system with a Holo-net crew. They had been welcomed aboard but the news crews were shooed away, courtesy of a thinly veiled threat from Admiral Del Rio and had to be content with maintaining a safe distance away. Aboard the massive vessel as they passed many soldiers gave funny looks as they ran to their various destinations. Ahsoka was sure that if circumstances were different and everybody wasn't so busy they would have a crowd following them. Behind, Obi-Wan trailed in front of the rear bodyguard and took everything in with mild interest.
William led the group into a conference room. He gestured to the two soldiers flanking the door. They parted and let them pass. A large number of individuals already sat in the room. A quick feel into the force told Ahsoka they were a collection of scientists, officers, and other individuals. What was troubling though was that she couldn't feel anything else through the force. Everything on this ship seemed to be devoid of it.
"Gentlemen, welcome aboard the Dauntless." William said as they all sat down. A plate of berries and assorted fruits sat before them. He chose an apple and leaned back in his chair taking a bite. "Please I insist you have one. They're native to our central planet and quite delicious."
He watched as Obi-Wan grabbed an apple from the bowl and took a bite. He nodded at the taste of it and sat back. Shipmaster 'Chevam who was by default the highest ranking person in the room besides Admiral Del Rio watched with cold interest.
"Now, it is my pleasure to introduce our rescuers." William said gesturing to Anakin, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, and Padme. "These three," he said pointing to the assembled Jedi, "Are Jedi of the Galactic Republic, the Government power that resides in the Andromeda Galaxy. The Jedi from what I was able to learn in five minutes are an Order of Warriors that serve as a Peacekeeping force throughout the galaxy.
"And this," he said pointing to the woman sitting down, "Is Padme Amidala. She's a Senator in the Legislative Body of the Galactic Republic. Being a diplomat, I thought it would be best if she were to speak a little bit about the history of this Galaxy and answer any questions you all had."
"Excuse me for a moment." Del Rio asked. "Would you mind telling why we were attacked by this…Confederacy? Why are you at war? Furthermore, I would like to know why over ten-thousand soldiers and sailors perished including many prominent leaders! When I'm asked how I managed to crash a Carrier and sustain enormous casualties on the ground and enormous damage to my ship I would like an answer!" his face became livid.
"Calm yourself Admiral." Growled Shipmaster 'Chevam. I'm sure this Senator Amidala will enlighten you."
Amidala took this as her cue to begin speaking. "With respect Admiral, you have reason to be angry. Your men have just suffered terrible tragedy." The Senator said. "I ask that you put your emotions aside for the time being. To properly answer your questions I need to start at the beginning with the birth of the Republic. This will take several hours, but please feel free to ask any questions."
And so Padme began. She started with the beginnings of the Republic and the history of its government, the Wars, the heroes, and the rise of the Sith, at this point the three Jedi got up and spoke about the Force, the Jedi Order and the Sith Empire and then for a long time on the nature of the Force. As he spoke Will noticed the Shipmaster slightly on edge. The Jedi sat down and the Senator took the floor again.
"This whole war we've been involved in was started when the Trade Federation, a mercantile group became unhappy with the Planet Naboo over trade affairs. The whole incident, which we believe was instigated by a Sith Lord, blew up when the Trade Federation with their own security forces blockaded the Planet. Naboo sued for aid but the Republic was slow to act. The previous Chancellor was given a vote of no-confidence and the local natives drove off the droid forces. However the Naboo Crisis had revealed to some how corrupt the Legislative System had become." She paused and surveyed the room.
"From this talk of dissent and rebellion arose, until finally Several Corporate Groups and Planets seceded from the Republic and became the Confederacy of Independent Systems."
She gestured to Obi-Wan who took over. "An attempt on the Senator's life lead my investigation to a planet named Kamino where I discovered a Jedi by the name of Sifo-Dyas had ten years commissioned an entirely cloned army for the Republic. I pursued her assassin, a bounty hunter names Jango Fett, to the planet Geonosis where I discovered they were building an army for war.
I, along with Anakin and Senator Amidala were captured, and were to be summarily executed. The Senate acted, the Grand Army of the Republic was created, and we invaded Geonosis. From that point each side has been locked in a bloody stalemate and there's not an end in sight. The Confederacy's leadership is currently headed by a Sith Lord named Count Dooku, originally a Jedi he fell away and became lost to the dark side. Much of the Atrocities committed in this war have come because of him and the others leadership."
"However." Interjected Anakin. "We have a reason to suspect another individual named Darth Sidious is at the head of this. We're focusing all our efforts we can to capture him but he has so far eluded capture."
He was about to continue when Sarah interrupted him over the PA system.
"Admiral Del Rio?"
"Go ahead Sarah."
"It would appear that something is messing with our transmission of messages in this galaxy but I've finally contacted command back home. We've been requested that we make best speed possible to the Palio system for an emergency meeting of the Allied Species Security Council."
"Have you calculated a faster way back? The portal's gone." Del Rio pointed out.
"I think we could open it up again."
"How?" he raised his eyebrows.
"More on that later. I'll run a couple tests but if this is successful we could make FTL travel a whole lot faster."
"Do it."
"Senator, I think it's best if we adjourned for now." said Sesa 'Chevam. We need to undergo Emergency jump protocol." said 'Chevam clarifying again.
"Ahh yes, Please allow us to contact our superiors to confer on what we must do next." Obi-Wan said.
"Thank you for letting us meet." The Senator stood and shook hands with Del Rio.
"Thank you for letting us meet under better conditions than the Confederacy."
"Are we parting here?" Shipmaster 'Chevam asked. "If we were to bring them home it certainly would make convincing all of them of our story easier." he said facing the three Jedi and the Senator.
"Ah." Obi-Wan folded his arms. "Now might be a bad time but we were hoping we could present you to the Senate."
"And bring more involvement with the Separatists?" Del Rio asked incredulous. "Absolutely not. I don't think contact between the two of us would be a good thing, as eager as I would be to take revenge on our dead."
Ahsoka felt the Admiral's agitation through the force for a second before it disappeared.
"But Admiral, don't you think an alliance would be mutually beneficial?"
"Ahsoka—" muttered Anakin urgently.
Del Rio rounded on her in an instant.
"Here's a question for you." He hissed. "Why on Earth do they put children into leadership positions in your galaxy? Are you bled that dry for leadership that you sacrifice the adolescent naïve? Who's idea was it to give leadership command to a ****** kid?!"
"Admiral, please, with all due respect—"
"Hey! I'm not a youngling!" Ahsoka shot back interrupting Anakin.
"Ahsoka!" Anakin exclaimed dismayed.
The security detail tensed not sure what to do.
"Admiral! Temper your anger this instant or we may very well be in another war!" the Shipmaster shouted above all of them.
Del Rio stepped back and fell silent.
"Admiral, the Council requests, should their government permit, that they be summoned for interrogation. They are willing to send a delegation in turn to meet with the Senate." Sarah broke the terse silence.
"Fine." He said throwing his arms down. "Go ahead and ask. I'll be in my quarters. This meeting is concluded."
Bridge, UNSC Dauntless in orbit around Rhen Var
Tobali System, Outer Rim, Andromeda Galaxy
November 2nd, 2559 11:09 Hours, UNSC Standard Military Time/Calendar
SRH-0259-4
Deep within the computer systems of the Dauntless Sarah thought. They were under orders to return at once but realistically, Command would have to wait several months for them to come back. At the point any number of things could happen. Such a long time could have an infinite number of outcomes and certainly ruled out the Jedi from coming with them. She thought for half of a second about the powers they were reputed to have but pushed those thoughts aside.
She was puzzling over the physics of the slipspace portals she observed. She knew they could be created, the UNSC had a well-documented incident in the final days of the Human/Covenant to prove that over and over, but the latest incident, the one that got them into this mess was confusing her. She had a basic idea of how it happened and if she could somehow get a hold of the ship's black box she would be able to learn how to recreate what happened; otherwise, she had theories.
She had a hunch she could get a portal up and running but she couldn't explain to herself or anyone else the science behind it. Even if she could get it up and running they had one more problem to deal with.
While faster-than-light travel was bound to generate chronological and causal paradoxes by nature, ships traveling through slipspace relied on a self-healing effect of space-time called reconciliation, the severity of it which scaled non-linearly was determined by difference in information transfer between point A and point B, as well as strain on local time-space.
She knew from what little was left of the Forerunners, that they were forced to place significant importance on reconciliation because they traversed the galaxy on a regular basis. The Forerunners prevented this by taking unusually long journeys in a number of individual jumps, allowing reconciliation to take effect between each.
The other issue that could interfere with their trip was that reconciling had a "budget"—extensive slipspace travel exerted strain on space-time on a large scale as paradoxes accrued a "debt". When the debt built up, it could impede with or even halt other traffic and communication. Humanity still did not understand so much about FTL travel but they were able to observe early on that the time slipspace travel to normal-space observers varied noticeably on the scale of a five- to ten-percent variance in travel times between stars. As a result, a fleet that transitions to slipstream space at the same time may or may not transition back to normal space at the same time. Furthermore, if ship 'A' and ship 'B' both were to enter slipstream space at the same time and exit at the same time, the crew on ship 'A' could have experienced a longer journey subjectively, and the crew of ship 'A' could be a week older than that of ship 'B' despite appearances in normal space.
"Sarah."
She paused her thinking. The Admiral was in his quarters summoning her.
She transitioned to the holoprojector in his quarters and materialized.
"Yes Admiral?"
Del Rio was seated on the foot of his bed looking at a hologram of their current position in relation to home.
"Are you any closer to a solution?" he said as the hologram shrank to reveal the enormity of the trip.
"Yes and no." she admitted.
"Give me the yes."
"Hypothetically, if I run a few tests I might be able to recreate the portal on a miniature basis."
"That's great. What about the no?"
"We…. could easily end up in an entirely different galaxy I can't say for sure that I could navigate us that well."
The Admiral snorted.
"That and such a trip might have serious repercussions on other slipspace activities. I also don't know how our drive would handle it. Nobody's attempted it before. It would just be like atmospheric slipspace jumps.
"And if it does work? How much time could we save?"
"Well, a completely functional and stable slipspace portal like the one that opened over Mombasa took a full three weeks to get us from point A to point B. We could be looking at even longer."
"But we made that trip in over a minute."
"It could be that slipspace here has something akin to rip currents or a jet-stream that were able to get us through much faster."
Del Rio paused to think on this.
"Meet me on the bridge. If there's a faster way home, we'll take it."
He stood up and Sarah de-materialized and moved her conscious over to engineering while the Captain moved. Their slipspace drive after it's intense usage had seen better days and honestly, Sarah didn't know how well it would take what she had in mind. The Dauntless was privileged to share in some of the Forerunner modifications to its engine that its larger cousin the Infinity had. Sarah was wondering whether she could utilize that one more time.
She had Eliza, the dumb AI run a diagnostic test on the drive and forwarded the results onto her. Satisfied, she accessed the drive itself and begin writing a subprogram to test her theory. If it worked, then all she had to worry about was maintaining the proper endpoint.
Allied Species Convocation Center, Orbital Station 09-01, Palio Major Cluster
November 3rd 2557 00:30 hours UNSC Standard Military Time/Calendar
The Dauntless was reaping the benefits of a miraculous break. Sarah had made the issue of travel so much easier when she had figured out how to recreate the slipspace portal by manipulating the drive and the slipspace creation mechanisms itself. The result was a completely functional and stable portal that mimicked closely the properties of the one they had originally traversed. The achievement, monumental in significance, was not as important as the fact that they would be able to get back home and bring word of the attack on their troops. The Republic's "diplomatic delegation" consisting of the Jedi, a Senator, and a contingent of clones as back up.
Kenobi had reported to Del Rio that they needed sufficient time to map out the Milky Way if they were to use Hyperdrives on board their ships, otherwise they would have the risk of blowing themselves to the far corners of the Universe when traveling at the speed of light. So Del Rio begrudgingly had given them space aboard the Dauntless for the time on the ship.
So, in an astrogation first, they had traversed a portal of their own creation back to the Milky Way. The return trip only took a couple hours longer than the first trip which had been achieved in minutes..
The survivors of the Rising Flame were being treated for the other injuries brought on by the tragedy of the crash. The majority of survivors were to be given a leave of absence for a time to recover. Will had been declared healthy but hadn't been able to shake something from his mind.
He was very sure despite what the medical professionals thought that something had very much changed inside him. He had noticed a slight tic develop in his hands and wrists which the medics had passed off as him being a hypochondriac. Will privately thought the real reason was that the UNSC still needed every Spartan in the already tiny branch to do their job effectively so they were ignoring any of his complaints for a "greater good".
As the two ships exited slipspace they were met by a huge gathering of vessels both small and large. Several that were identified as news vessels tried to board the two ships but were shooed away by the fighter compliment on board.
"You've drawn quite a crowd." William said wryly as they all stood on the bridge.
"Indeed we have." Obi-Wan said standing next to him his arm's crossed.
Their main focus was on a massive structure in space, the Allied Species Convocation Center. The rest of the fleet they had been separated from as well as a hundred plus other vessels were orbiting around it. They had docked both ships at the Dockyard orbiting the Main mining facilities instead for resupply and repair.
As the Pelican dropship entered the main hangar of the centeral building William could hear the dull roar of hundreds of reporters and camera crews. Mingled among them were the indistinct voices of other soldiers or just curious civilians.
William put his helmet on and prepared for the worst. As the bay door opened the group walked into the mass.
Almost instantly a massive roar from soldiers, civilians, and other people filled the hangar and a hundred rounded ends of microphones were stuck through gaps in the wall of Marines holding back the pressing crowd.
"Move quickly." William said to the group.
Ahsoka felt hot as she walked through the mass of people. Security forces were stepping in pushing the people back. She was half blinded by the amount of cameras being pointed at the three Jedi, Senator Amidala, Shipmaster 'Chevam, Ripa, and William. She tried to ignore some of the whistles some of the crowd gave her but she nevertheless got slightly red.
Shipmaster 'Chevam led the group through the doors to the main hallways and turned left heading down a hallway that slightly curved off to the left. There were more cameras rolling and snapping pictures wherever they turned.
"Next time," William said over a private channel to the Shipmaster, "I think we should use the back entrance."
"Agreed Demon." He replied with his cold tone.
They came to an atrium of sorts with Security personal standing everywhere in lines holding more of the crowd back. More noise added to the cacophany as they came into this room. A pair of Honor Guard Sangheili opened the two massive doors leading into the conference hall and they entered.
Will had only been here once before but he remembered enough of where to head. They were in a large chamber modeled after the room where ages ago the United Nations on Earth would meet to save the world by diplomacy. Diplomacy had won out...most of the time.
This time the room was silent save it for hushed whispering as the group filed in to where they would be sitting, the front row next to a dozen other witnesses.
"Hey, can you tell me what's going to happen?" Ahsoka asked.
Will nodded and turned to face her.
"Okay, so when this meeting first begins the counselors of every member species will take the stand in front of us." He said gesturing to the rows of seats in front of him on the opposite side of the hall.
"After they officially start they will read out the purpose of this meeting. Since this is a meeting where testimony is asked to be given they will probably call up a few witnesses including myself and Ripa to testify and give our story. Shipmaster 'Chevam and Admiral Del Rio will probably give their account next. There are many other survivors that they could call upon as well. Following that, they will probably ask each one of you to stand and give your testimony of what happened, you may be asked to give questions or background on the Republic but that will be all. Suggestions and proposals will be heard following that and the Council will vote on a course of action.
"So how do they go about voting?" asked Senator Amidala.
"Well," said William, "The Security Council will listen to all of the information that everyone has to present and then they'll vote on what to do with it. Each race has five representatives on the council, except the Mgalekgolo who will have ten.
Ahsoka frowned "Why's that?"
"When a Lekgolo colony develops to a certain mass, it divides just like a cell would. The two colonies share a bond you and I can only imagine, and are never found far from each other. Each pair of "Bond Brothers" is considered one vote on the council because they usually never do anything contrary to the will of the other.A majority vote is needed for the council to pass anything, a declaration of war for example or restrictions on trade."
"How long has the government been in existence?"
"Not that long. It's a relatively new experiment. They're still ironing out the kinks. Not everyone falls in line with suggestions and the security force is mainly detailed of things that each army doesn't really want control of. They have no way to enforce any one side to take action except to rely on the respective armies of the members.
"So these councilors are supposed to control all the other races but can't?" asked Padmé entering the conversation again.
"No. They're kind of in a difficult position." said William.
"The Council lacks the power it has to control the individual species." Will looked up to see Ripa joining them with a trio of Sangheili. "They are merely an overarching government that is in place to ensure another war between all of us doesn't take place again. In fact we still are very much separate and don't have more contact with the others than is absolutely necessary." said Ripa.
"Hold your tongue. They are arriving," said Sesa in that cold level voice of his, staring intently at the center of the lectern. The councilors were entering from both sides and ascending the stairs that lead to the elevated platform, every one flanked by two troopers of the same species. It was a tense procession. As they all sat one individual, whom Ripa pointed out to the others as Arbiter Thel' Vadam.
The room, which had been filled with quiet whispers, fell silent as the Arbiter cleared his throat. He tested the microphone gently and satisfied drew himself to full height.
"In accordance with the vote from last time, I, Kaidon Thel 'Vadam have been chosen to conduct this session. This meeting of the Allied Species Council has been called in accordance with Clause 13 in the charter of the Allie due to the attack on the CSO Supercarrier Rising Flame that took recently and resulted in the death of Fleetmaster 'Rtakaan and nearly everyone stationed on-board. Under normal circumstances the Fleetmaster or Shipmaster would recount the events that occurred that day, but due to the fact that he and others in his leadership postition are deceased that is impossible. However, Field Marshal Ruki 'Hussan, and a number of survivors have volunteered to recount the events that occurred that day, if they would please make their way forward?"
Ripa and William rose from their seats along with most of the others stationed in their row and walked to the speaker's podium facing them; the council faced them on all sides.
It was a slow process but it was thorough in it's questioning. Each of the survivors introduced themselves and the basic timeline and sequence of events was established followed by an interview regarding the nature of the battle and of their enemy.
"Spartan Gunther." said a female Human councilor calling him up.
He walked up to where a Marine in a wheelchair had just finished giving testimony.
"Spartan. Our records show that you were part of a deadly attack on a planet when you were young. Your parents were declared missing but you decided to join the Spartan III program as a result. You have served for many years as leader of Special Warfare Team Castle, a part of ONI Section Three taking part in many operations in the Great War and later afterwards in diffusing several terrorist situations proving your ability as a leader and a clear thinker. Is this true?"
"It is councilor," said William beneath his helmet. "But I only successfully diffused those terrorist situations because my brother in arms, Ripa 'Talam was watching my back." His comment earned several grunts of approval from the Sangheili councilors who nodded their heads in satisfaction. His words had their attention. The story of what had happened was still a major talking point among the Sangheili.
"Yes we are aware of the fact that you are deemed an honorary member of the 'Talam family," said the female councilor slightly irritated.. "And you Ripa, you were the one who granted him this title correct?"
"Only because he showed an amount of honor and bravery that would put half of my race to shame, risking his life to save the life of three dozen civilians with no support but myself and an AI. Merits that show him as a true warrior." said Ripa as loud as he could from where he stood, the faintest hint of pride in his voice. "This was the only way I could repay such a feat to such a great warrior.
"Very well," said another councilor "You were the Commanding Officer of the Dauntless right up until Admiral Del Rio took command. Can you explain what you were doing?"
"I would like to remind the Council that in accordance with NAVSPECWAR Emergency Directive 72-09 Article 17 dictates that Spartans are allowed to command ships in times of extreme emergency provided there is justifiable reasons to this and the full sanction of at least two Superior Officers ranking Vice Admiral or Higher?"
There was a rustling of paper from the human councilors.
"Does the council of humans see anything wrong with having a Demon lead ships?" One of the Jiralhanae councilors asked.
"Chieftain Lydus, this does not concern you or the Brutes."
Lydus, an enormously tall Jiralhanae snorted contemptuously.
"And I suppose you have to concern yourselves with every whit of our affairs."
A roar went up from the other Brutes.
"Silence ape, or I'll gut you like I did the rest of your pack!" A Sangheili chided.
"There will be order!" the Arbiter called out and the rest of the court came into politics. "Councilor Porter, we have already determined through the other testimonies this Spartan had nothing to do with the ship's being pulled in."
"Fine." Councilor Porter said curtly "Spartan would you and Special Operations Operative 'Talam recount the events of the attack to us?"
William and Ripa recounted the events that they had experienced on Rhen Var. Their ship had been caught with its shields down after traversing the portal; the Confederacy had landed and swarmed them, pressing in on them relentlessly, how there had seemed to be no end to the swarm of droids who seemed to have no other purpose in life than killing them. They then proceeded to inform the council of the arrival of the Republic and the military assistance that they had provided which eventually broke the siege.
"If they had not arrived then when the Morning Light had arrived, there would have been no survivors of this abominable attack. I owe them my life." Ripa said humbly.
The Sangheili interrupted several times asking to interrogate Ahsoka on the nature of the blades but that request was denied.
"Very well," said the same councilor that had asked them about questions "You my retake your seats." William and Ripa nodded and reasoned the steps to where the others sat.
"Um," said Ahsoka, still feeling slightly embarrassed at the attention the Sangheili had given her. "You were fighting terrorists and saving civilians?"
"Xenophobes," said William "People who don't like the idea of working with others that are different then they. They decided that blowing things up is the best way to fix it. Half a dozen of them had a bunch of civilians wired with explosives and were threatening to blow them sky high. I had to draw their attention via sniper fire, while Ripa snuck up on them and…"
"Shipmaster Sesa 'Chevam, please make your way forward at this time please." Lydus spoke up.
Sesa rose and descended the stairs coming up to the same podium.
"Shipmaster," Lydus grunted. "Would you please add your account to what has been spoken please?"
The Shipmaster looked around, cleared his throat and began.
"After the Dauntless and the Rising Flame were seized by the slipspace portal the rest of the fleet panicked and made a wide perimeter around the portal preventing anyone else from being sucked in. We were going to call the crews dead when the message that they were being attacked came through the actual portal a few seconds before our main comms registered the actual message. I elected to take my ship through to see what was going on. I entered the system with relatively few issues and saw the Confederacy chasing the Dauntless in the planet's orbit and the Republic's fleet taking on the remnant of their original fleet.
I quickly contacted Captain Del Rio and together we took down many ships but we were being slowly beaten, the Dauntless and my ship were taking a serious beating. We couldn't scramble enough men to help the survivors below and we thought we would have to shamefully retreat until the Galactic Republic stepped in and prevented the Separatist's from leaving the planet. We sent an Intelligence team to bring back a prisoner and then blew up the last ship."
He said this last part finishing with a hint of satisfaction.
"Thank you Shipmaster." said a Kig-yar councilor.
"Admiral Andrew Del Rio, would you please step forward and testify?" asked Councilor Porter.
William watched as Del Rio rose from the left, and made his way forward to the front of the chamber where he stood before the Councilors. He looked very sure of himself and proud. An uneasy feeling began to creep down his back.
"Admiral, please give us your account." She said.
"Certainly. At 22:00 hours the Dauntless and Carrier Salvation were suddenly snatched from this galaxy as we powered up our Slipspace drives. The portal had a negative reaction to that and we were sucked into the Andromeda Galaxy in a region known by the natives as the Outer Rim, a generally lawless place. We were soon attacked after arrival by the Confederacy with overwhelming numbers. After the Carrier was shot down I elected to use a variation of the Hat-Yai weave tactic to deal damage to the enemy fleet while still maintaining the element of mobility and being on the run. Eventually the Republic and Shipmaster 'Chevam arrived and drove off the fleet."
"Is that all?" asked the Arbiter
"Yes Arbiter."
"You may be seated."
"Would the representatives from the Galactic Republic make their way to the front?" he asked.
As the Jedi and Padmé made their way to the front. They did not receive the same silence that William and Ripa had received, as several mutters emitted from the crowd among which were "They're human," and "What warrior wears cloth to a battle?" The crowd seemed equally confused.
As the representatives reached the center a Kig-Yar Councilor read off of a holo-pad a brief transcript of the meeting on the Dauntless.
"Is our data accurate?" The four nodded. "Our information on this Galactic Republic is painfully limited, mainly confined to the data that was acquired by Sierra-271 and what you told our eadership aboard the Dauntless. We were hoping that you could fill in the gaps in the data. We would also appreciate it if you could provide us with additional information on this Confederacy of Independent Systems."
The next hour was completely dedicated to the Jedi and Padmé informing the council about the Republic and the Confederacy. Mainly their atrocities committed on other planets. Will didn't pay much attention to it as it was mostly a rehash of what he heard on the Dauntless.
"Thank you that will be all," said one of the Human councilors as the Republic representatives returned to their seats.
"Requesting permission to address the council," said Sesa from his seat.
"Permission granted," said the Arbiter.
Sesa descended the stairs to the center of the room where the council looked down upon him with curiosity. "I would petition from this Council that should a declaration of war be declared on the Confederacy of Independent Systems, that the use of energy projectors be authorized." Murmurings ran throughout the crowd as Sesa continued,
"From what we have learned, the military force of the Confederacy is almost entirely comprised of droids, most of which possess artificial intelligence inferior to that of a dumb A.I. Energy projectors used on military targets only would serve their effect. We need not glass an entire planet. It would greatly impede the ability of the Confederacy to make war as well as prevent the unnecessary deaths of countless troops."
The murmurings continued for a few seconds, before Rtas leaned forward slightly and said "It is unusual to try and petition for the terms of war before war has even been voted on but we shall put it to a vote should war be declared Shipmaster."
"Thank you councilor, I have one more thing to say," said Sesa as he returned to his seat. "Most high Kaidon," he said directing his comments to the Elite in Gray runic armor.
"Yes Shipmaster?"
"Would you like to question the prisoner I obtained?" he said.
The silence shattered as the Council realized the magnitude of what they had been offered.
"There will be ORDER!" roared the Arbiter as the Sangheili and Lekgolo roared for the prisoner to be brought forth
The roars and yells stopped slowly as they realized what had been said.
"Bring forth the prisoner." He said coldly.
The lights dimmed leaving only a circle of light on the floor where Tar Muuk would stand.
Sesa gestured to two Elite Guards at the left side and they opened up the door. Two Zealots in blood red armor stepped forth bringing out a wriggling captain flailing about. He stopped and stared petrified at the various groups watching to see if anybody would make a move.
The council gasped and started muttering and whispering furiously to each other.
"Arbiter," said Sesa taking a spot on the floor next to him, "May I introduce to you Admiral Tar Muuk, head of the fleet which shamefully spilt innocent blood." He spoke the last words with a bitter contempt.
A general roar of outrage burst from the assembled crowd. William silently sat observing the events with a passive eye.
"Admiral, would you like to defend yourself and your actions before this counsel?" asked one of the Unggoy Counselors.
"Y...Y...Yes." he stammered out terrified.
"Then do so." growled one of the Brutes angrily.
"W…W…Well, I was tasked by my leaders to go to the Tobali System and explore sites for a Listening post and to set up bases of operation. Previously the scandalous Republic had attacked a Base we had established on there. In the end it was left abandoned by all until one of our Fleets went missing. I was then asked to go and set up a base of operations. When the ships appeared, I and my commanding General didn't know what to think, so when we intercepted a transmission from my superiors about a fleet of Republic ships I assumed they were hostiles."
"But none of our ships are of Galactic Design! Surely you would off…" roared Admiral Del Rio from his seat.
"I gave you a warning shot!" yelled Tar Muk facing Del Rio.
"You gave us 90 seconds before you proceeded to kill over eighteen thousand soldiers and sailors. Innocent victims!"
Most of the counsel and audience spectating rose to its feet and began arguing and shouting at everyone else."
"There will be ORDER!" Roared the Arbiter for a fourth time. He shook his head wearily.
"An instant hush fell over the crowd."
"Admiral. I can sympathize but I cannot agree that your actions were capable of being sanctioned in any scenario. You will have the pleasure to note your name will go down in history as one of those the ignited the war machine that we possess." The Arbiter glared descending the stairs and staring him in the eye.
Admiral Mur trembled as this monster stared him down, a furious beast from ****.
"If there is nothing else to be presented," said 'Vadam turning to the councilors, "I propose that a declaration of war be issued against the Confederacy of Independent Systems. This war will include the Republic as an ally in arms, Cole Protocol is to be initiated again to prevent the Confederacy from learning the location of our planets. All those in favor,"
The hands of three quarters of the Councilors rose.
"Those against?"
A sizeable number of hands went up but they were clearly in the minority.
"Very well," said Thel "And all of those in favor of Shipmaster 'Chevam's proposal on the use of energy projectors for usage in glassing military targets only."
All five Sangheili councilors raised their hands, as did all of the Jiralhanae, four of the Kig-yars three of the Humans, two of the Unggoy, one of the Yanme'e, four of the Magelekgolo.
"Very well," said the Arbiter "From this day forth a state of war exists between the Allied Species and the Confederacy of Independent Systems, and as an extension the Galactic Republic is our ally. We will send a diplomatic delegation immediately to work out the details Energy projectors will be used on military targets only, no civilians are to be harmed by us if at all possible." all of the councilors nodded.
"Get the prisoner to a facility where he can be monitored." He said gesturing at Mur Tuuk. "We must return to our homes to mobilize our forces," said Thel "Go now all of you, and may your warrior spirits guide you to victory."
The lights returned and William ushered the extra-galactic visitors out through masses of staring people back outside.
And the wheels of war begin to turn, how long will they run for?
Yours in writing.
theotherpianist.